The Unexpected Relationships Between Melatonin, The Moon, And Eye Color

Originally published via Symphony Natural Health.

Melatonin Levels Dip With The Full Moon

Moon cycles (circalunar) can influence sleep and melatonin levels, irrespective of the increase in light. At full moon time, these were the observations in a human clinical trial in a sleep lab:

Deep sleep decreased by 30% (measured by EEG delta activity during NREM sleep).Time to fall asleep increased by 5 minutes.Total sleep duration was reduced by 20 minutes (measured by EEG).Participants had less sleep quality and reduced endogenous melatonin levels.

Reference:

Cajochen C, Altanay-Ekici S, Münch M, Frey S, Knoblauch V, Wirz-Justice A. Evidence that the lunar cycle influences human sleep. Curr Biol. 2013 Aug 5;23(15):1485-8. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.06.029. Epub 2013 Jul 25. PMID: 23891110.

Clinical Tip:

Based on these findings and what is known to be true about poor quality sleep during the full moon time of the month for some people, it may be worth considering HerbatoninPRO™ four days before and four days after a full moon for patients who have difficulty sleeping and are not currently taking melatonin. Further, those taking the low dose (0.3 mg) may need the higher dose (3 mg) during that time of the month.

Also, one customer shared with our colleagues at Symphony Health that the influence of HerbatoninPRO can be immediate. He emailed us after trying 0.3 mg of HerbatoninPRO to say that his Oura sleep score went from 60 to 86 within one day!

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Eye Color & Artificial Blue Light At Night

It's worth mentioning a few other tidbits from clinical studies that can be translated into clinical pearls, such as the relationship between eye color and melatonin synthesis. Research has shown that people with light-colored eyes (green, blue, light brown) will be more susceptible (~17%) to the suppressive effects of blue light at night on endogenous melatonin synthesis compared with those who have dark-colored eyes [1]. In other words, it's even more important for these individuals to wear blue-light-blocking glasses at night when they may be exposed to light from devices. These individuals should also tend to their melatonin levels as they may need a melatonin supplement like HerbatoninPRO, especially if they are unable to reduce their artificial light exposure at night. However, there is an upside for those with light-colored eyes. They tend to be less prone to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) [2].

References:

Higuchi S, Motohashi Y, Ishibashi K, Maeda T. Influence of eye colors of Caucasians and Asians on suppression of melatonin secretion by light. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 2007 Jun;292(6):R2352-6. doi: 10.1152/ajpregu.00355.2006. Epub 2007 Mar 1. PMID: 17332164.Goel N, Terman M, Terman JS. Depressive symptomatology differentiates subgroups of patients with seasonal affective disorder. Depress Anxiety. 2002;15(1):34-41. doi: 10.1002/da.1083. PMID: 11816051.